Contact: Maria Cardona FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lori Arguelles 9/19/97Broadcast weathercasters from around the country will have the opportunity to hear directly from scientific experts during a forum on climate change, Department of Commerce Secretary William M. Daley announced today.
"Climate change is an extremely complex issue," said Daley. "This forum will provide broadcast weathercasters with direct access to the scientists who have studied this issue for decades. This is a unique opportunity to better understand the climate system and factors that influence it."
Experts from Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), together with outside experts, will summarize their studies in a morning forum on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at NOAA's Auditorium in Silver Spring, Md.
Among those giving presentations are:
Dr. Daniel Albritton, director of NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory, who will discuss the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and predictions of the changes in the climate system that could result from those increased levels;
Thomas Karl, senior scientist at NOAA's National Climate Data Center, who will discuss how climate patterns have changed over time and how present data show that precipitation and temperature patterns are changing across the United States and the world;
Dr. Ants Leetmaa, director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, who will discuss how the 1997/98 El Nino was predicted using numerical models. He will discuss how El Nino disrupts seasonal climate patterns and what lessons can be applied to climate change;
Prof. William Easterling, professor at Pennsylvania State University's Geography and System Science Department, who will discuss how climate and climate change impacts people and the way they live and the importance of studying the climate system and the societal and economic impacts. Professor Easterling will also describe how the climate system has and will continue to impact society.
Experts on regional climate impacts will also be on hand to discuss climate outlooks for specific regions of the country.
This briefing is the first in a series of ongoing efforts to keep broadcast weathercasters informed on the status of the science of climatology and new discoveries relating to climate change.
Broadcast weathercasters will be invited to the White House following the science briefings to meet with President Clinton and Vice President Gore.